Herman shouldn't have to prove that the car wasn't tampered with! It's under warranty, a legal contract. The burden of proof should be upon Honda to prove that it WAS tampered with. If he had installed an aftermarket intake, exhaust, etc., Honda might have an argument, even if the plugs were never touched. In this case... well, I'm speechless.

 

at 48000 miles the bumper to bumper is up and the powertrain warranty only covers major mechanical components...i dont believe spark plugs are in the category...

 

that's exactly what I was thinking!

 

oh and if they want $3000 to fix it you're better off finding a whole other engine. A friend of mine recently bought a 09 engine with 41k on it for $800. You also don't have to worry about helicoil threads

 

Hey Everyone

I just recieved a call from Honda Canada. It was escalated but the decision is they will not be covering any of the work. They state that the looseness of sparkplugs were basis for external work done on the car. The dealership that handled the work was Castle Honda in Etobicoke, Ontario Canada. They brought the cost down to $1700

I asked for any technical reports on the car, however they will only send me a letter stating it will not be covered.

I'm at a loss either way, and I'm not sure how long the helicoil will last on my vehicle as I was planning to keep it for a long time.

 

That would put a bad taste in my mouth right there. Not to mention that $1700 is extortion.

 

I would go back to the dealerships you had work done at and start asking. If it didn't happen at the factory, it happened at one of their places.

 

I doubt the factory sent it out with loose spark plugs....especially if it lasted 48000 miles....

Not saying you loosened them but someone did...

Good luck tho

 

The engine is not a bumper-to-bumper item, it it a drive train issue. We're not talking about replacing spark plugs, or air filters, or any other consumable wear item, either. The engine has failed and should be repaired under warranty. It should also be inspected to see if any metal fragments got into the cylinder and caused damage.

Of course, the most common spark plug issue is over-tightening, but in this case I believe they were not loose per se when they left the factory... but thay had not been tightened to spec, either. They worked their way loose over time. This is not an unheard-of thing to have happen when plugs are not tightened properly. And it takes time for the failure event to occur.

 

if any of you recalled... just recently this happened to me https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...e-blew-up.html

I have done mods that can factor whether my claim is to be approved or disapproved of warranty. I don't know how it is in canada but in my case... a specific honda rep (district rep) that handle these things was sent to the dealership to check/sort things out and hand a verdict.

Some dealers are so anal in these department... and would happily charge your own pocket than do the extra work and paper work to file your warranty claim from honda.

 

and just to give more light on how different dealership handles warranty issues... I had my 1 yr old honda crosstour broke a valve. Instead of bringing it to my preferred dealership for warranty work... I brought it to where I bought it (like anyone would have done). Yes they did the warranty but after which the crosstour don't feel right and run right. Brought it in and out of the dealership 4 times with same issues. And finally before I escalate things up, I brought it to the dealership that did my Fit recently and sorted the problem out in 2 days... they charge me $0 even if they did not do the valve/engine warranty job.

Yes, I do know and have friends in honda service on this specific dealership. So with that in mind... that might or might not factor in if they want to be anal on any warranty issues. Or it could just be the dealership itself that are anal or not anal and do their job by heart... you be the judge.

The most important thing in your case is where you stand... if you have not tampered with your car to void warranty, then you have a case to escalate to/thru corporate. It's tedious process but if you know somebody in service that could assist you... then it would or might help the matter a whole lot (so please don't quote me on this and take it as a grain of salt)... goodluck and may you sort your troubles out.

 

i dont know what they are bothered about, it is manufacturers warranty not a dealer warranty, honda pay not them

 

maybe they don't make money from warranty jobs and make more money regular jobs??? who knows...

 

If all 4 plugs were loose, that is, not tightened to 25 lbft torque they will loosen over time til one blows out. In our over 100 years combined experience we have seen this haoppen twice and both times the tech nstalled the plugs finger tight and forgot to torque them before continuing. How long has it been since ou had the plugs replaced? If its not over 20,000 miles I'd say the Honda tech ws at fault. And you should continue to harass Honda.If necessary you need to file a small claims case against the dealer.While you probably have a hard time proving you didn't tamper with the plugs, except possibly with your maintenance bills, they can't prove they didn't torque the plugs. If you have parents, friends, or others who can testify you haven't had work except at the dealer hats a plus.
Your word against theirs, you gotta 50% chance. better than none. And dealers don't like small claims court acrtions against them.

 

Like I said in my experience w/ warranty issues (much cheaper ones at least) follow the steps. Honda will start to cringe eventually when it becomes a BBB or legal matter. In my case at least it was cheaper/easier to pay me off than to continue to fight it...maybe/maybe not for you. The case never made it through the BBB despite no new evidence for or against me, as they said they would just do it on "good will". The important thing is to let them know you're not going anywhere until you have exhasted all options.

 

Keep in mind, you have paid for insurance....a warranty. I work in an insurance claims field and as the company who was paid to supply coverage for something we advised that we would cover, the burden of proof is on us to PROVE that coverage should not be afforded. We can't just deny coverage because "it looks like" coverage should not be afforded. We have to show clear evidence. In any case where it is a thin line.....such as this one, we do not have much ground to stand on. So when someone files suit or files a complaint with the department of financial services and responsibility, we generally start doing more to PROVE why coverage should not be afforded.

They have made their move, make yours.

Think about a cell phone warranty for a moment. They have multiple things on the phone such as a sticker that covers a specific screw which voids the warranty if the sticker has been moved off of that screw. They have the watermark stickers to show water got on the phone. They obviously have those now because they must have lost a case somewhere because they COULD NOT PROVE that the phone was tampered with or damaged how they claimed that it was. How can honda PROVE that someone tampered with the car outside of Honda itself? If I paid for a warranty, I would definitely be getting what I paid for.....Even if I had to stand outside the dealership with a large sign saying that they do not honor their warranty.....which I have done lol.

 

The way I see it is that if no one but dealership service techs have been under the hood it would have to be one of them that had loosened the spark plugs.... It is possible that there was a mix up of service orders and he had picked up the order for another car. Honda advises against using anti seize compound on spark plugs because it is possible to over torque them when it is used.. The engine and spark plugs both have to be at operating temperature or completely cooled down in order to remove the plugs due to the difference in expansion rates of the different metals used in both. Somebody messed up... Spark plug threads stripping out on air cooled VWs was a common problem.

 

Guy I know had that with his VW. It was just one and he would carefuly finger tighten it back in whenever it poped out, which was once a week.

 

This looks common Honda:

Wrong Spark Plug Damaged Coil and Heads - Honda Fit Forums

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One of my sparkplugs is gone!

 

are those plugs original oem plugs or did someone replace them?
that could be your problem